


Between Panels

by rainuc



Category: Kuroshitsuji | Black Butler
Genre: Gen, M/M, Mostly Gen, Spoilers, but otherwise canon-compliant, only sebaciel because I ship it and likely to be hinted at in future chapters, with the manga
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-26
Updated: 2017-01-26
Packaged: 2018-09-20 02:19:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 871
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9471110
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rainuc/pseuds/rainuc
Summary: Drabbles of what happens between certain panels of the manga. Started because I found it funny, supplying my own ideas of what happens during the parts of the plot Yana doesn't deem necessary to include in the manga. There will be spoilers because I am doing this as I reread the manga. Taking requests.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Best read with the manga open in one tab. :) This follows Mangafox's version, and takes place between Chapter 41 page 21 and 22.
> 
> Context: Ch 41 Pg 12 and Ch 49 Pg 10, Mansion Murders arc.

_ Who did it... And why… _

 

Arthur found himself drifting off to sleep. A vague sense of missing something niggled at him, but a larger, more tired part of him recognized that there was nothing left he could do, nothing he could figure out at this time of the night. Although his muse often saw him writing through the night, til the sun peeked over the horizon, somehow this day had been especially trying. With all the murders he dealt with in his writing, they were, after all, fictional. To see a real life snuffed out, someone’s son, someone’s father, someone’s brother…

 

A jangle of the chains jolted him awake. Despite his tiredness, he had been unable to rest easy. 

 

“Sorry, did I wake you, Mr Wordsmith? I need to use the bathroom.”

 

Staring at him expectantly was the young earl, yet it took a solid few seconds for the words to register in his head. He sat up abruptly, “Oh yes, of course! Sorry I took a while to respond! I’ll wait outside the bathroom?”

 

He glanced at the clock. It had only been about twenty minutes since the butler had come, and likely five since he had fallen asleep.

 

“That would be good, thank you.” A small smile from the earl, and Arthur’s heart warmed. He was still a child, after all. The two of them left the bed as he followed the earl’s lead, padding on warm carpeting towards the bathroom door.

 

Nearly fully awake, a small thought made itself known in Arthur’s mind. The child had finished his bath and used the chamber pot barely an hour ago, surely he could not be needing the bathroom so quickly? Curious, entirely subconsciously, his eyes slid over the earl’s form for clues. There was not much light to see by, but moonlight still filtered in through the clouds, despite the raging storm. The earl’s form was silhouetted against the window, and Arthur noticed a small, barely noticeable, tentage in the earl’s nightgown. It was near his abdomen area, wha - Arthur’s face flushed furiously as realization dawned on him. Of course, the earl was what, thirteen? Boys that age had certain needs men like Arthur had grown out of, certain urges. He whipped his head to stare fervently at a patch of wallpaper. It was none of his business! The earl would likely be mortified if he realised his guest had noticed something so intimate.

 

“Mr Wordsmith? Is everything alright?”

 

The earl looked at him curiously, having turned, and with his back facing the window, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. 

 

“Yes, yes, of course! So sorry, please carry on! I will wait for you here.”

 

Hoping the darkness would conceal the redness in his cheeks, he busied himself with arranging the chains. He caught the earl frown at him in his peripherals, but nevertheless entered the bathroom, drawing the large wood doors close. A gap was inevitably left for the chains to pass through, and Arthur resolutely stared in the exact opposite direction. He tried to close his ears to all sound, but as the human body is annoyingly programmed to do so, once made aware of a situation his senses were only more attuned to it.

 

He heard a soft rustling of the boy’s nightgown, and delicate footsteps walking away from him. After that, silence, or at least as silent as it could get. The storm still shook trees and flashes of lightning briefly lighted the room, but Arthur could hear nothing more. Then, another rustling of cloth, and Arthur heard footsteps walking towards his direction again. Confusion and disbelief flooded the writer, quite unbidden. The confusion he could not help - the earl had only spent five minutes in the bathroom. His tolerance had been low at that age, yes, but surely five minutes was a bit short. The lack of sound was surprising too - perhaps the howling winds outside drowned out much of it. The bathroom had been ridiculously spacious after all, the earl could have walked to the other end. The disbelief came right after the confusion, when he came back to his senses -  _ You should not even be thinking such thoughts! Cleanse your mind, Arthur! What do you think you’re doing - he’s an earl! And a child! _

 

The double doors swung open and Ciel exited. He yawned, “Ready for bed, Mr Wordsmith? I’m knackered.”

 

Arthur pulled himself out of his internal monologue to mumble some sort of assent, cheeks still flaming, and made his way to the bed. No matter, he would push all such thoughts out of his mind. By tomorrow, this ordeal would be over. It was strictly  _ none of his business _ what a teenager did in the bathroom, his brotherly senses be damned. Exhaustion - he’d blame it on the exhaustion, and by morning he would be a normal functioning member of society again.

 

Crawling into bed, chains dangling, they got ready to sleep once more. Ignoring his ever-present blush and filled with renewed determination, Arthur congratulated himself on how he didn’t stutter. “Goodnight, Earl Phantomhive.”

 

“Goodnight, Mr Wordsmith.”

 

Arthur’s eyes closed as he drifted off, and Ciel removed the envelope from his nightgown to place it back within the sleeves of the pillowcase.

**Author's Note:**

> I will take requests! :D


End file.
